Salute Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Gulfport

If you are planning to retire in an “upscale” assisted living facility with a bistro, ect—this place is good practice for your palate. Yeah, I’m saying the offering here are nursing home quality just like at a Florida retirement village. Bland, bland, bland. First, what is this place? Seafood, Italian, Mexican, Asian or what? I don’t think they even know and the food quality shows. We went to a lunch party of a good 30 folks in attendance. We got there 45 minutes early because we had another engagement. We told our waitress that. We were early but she said we could order and she’d get it in although she still had other tables on the floor. 15 minutes later she took our order and sent it to the kitchen. No problem. 45 minutes later (after ordering), I told her we had to leave and pack it up if ready. She went to check and came back with to-go boxes. She reported that it had been sitting on station under heat lamps because “the kitchen did not put a ticket with it.” We paid and left at 15 minutes past the party start time. She was the only wait person for a 30 person private party prescheduled. Her previous party drink orders were left alongside the wall diluting as we waited for our check. Whoever was the kitchen manager and the floor manager, as well as the general manager should have been fired. As a pro chef I’m familiar with these tactics by corporate “upscale” wanabes. We’ve all eaten at them. Flooded with chaotic bodies that don’t have a clue about what to do and looking busy yet in reality they are shorthanded because the mangers are clueless about how to properly staff so cracks in the machine become major issues in both food quality and service. I had the Eggplant Gondola w/Angel Hair Alfredo. First, as a classically trained French Saucier having worked under some of the finest NOLA chefs back in the day, this was no Alfredo. It was a very bland béchamel. Milk, no cream, no parm or very little, thickened with a blond roux. How do I know? Because the next day when I heated it up in the microwave it did not break—neither the cream nor the cheese. That’s because it had a thickener. Wow what a “signature” sauce. I wouldn’t put my name on it. But I would at least have used some SALT to make that slop taste like something other than flour. As a matter of fact the only seasoning in the dish of shrimp and crawfish (where?) was in the deep fried eggplant slices that were breaded in a commercially prepared “Italian” breadcrumb mix. Even the pasta was overcooked and tasteless. Yup, nursing home fare. Bland and soft textured. My partner had the Vegetable Basilico Pasta and reported the same type of culinary experience. When she showed me the accompanying bread, she commented “I can’t tell if this is supposed to be rosemary or mold flecks” in the worst looking and tasting focaccia (?) I’ve ever had. It was like a cross between soda bread and hardtack. Had a focaccia shape but the rise and flavor of sailor’s bread. Really, really old sailor’s bread—in taste and texture. Surely it wasn’t baked on Melville’s Pequod back in the day and resurrected for our…enjoyment? I have less chaos on my farm with my chickens running around and my cute little pigs need no lipstick as this place apparently has smeared everywhere to dress the place up. Come as you are. Bring your cane, and prepare for old folks dining at “bargain” lunch prices. Just don’t expect anything less than a place with no chef on the premises but plenty of chaotic mismanagement. And you will need to ask for the Sweet and Low cause it’s not on the table—Snowbirds like to pack their purses with that stuff. And therein lies...

On March 5, 2025, my wife, mother, and two aunts visited from Virginia, and we decided to dine at Salute based on prior recommendations. Before our visit, my mother confirmed that reservations were not necessary. We arrived at 5:00 PM, eager for an enjoyable dining experience. The restaurant was moderately busy, and we were hopeful about the evening.

We preferred a table by the window to fully appreciate the ocean view. However, we were surprised to be seated at a cramped six-person table next to the patio door, which did not offer the desired view. This seating arrangement was particularly challenging, considering three party members have disabilities. My mother politely requested a more suitable table by the window and asked if we could move to a different table for additional space. Unfortunately, the hostess firmly declined, stating that such adjustments were prohibited.

To resolve the situation, I approached the hostess and the waitress multiple times to request a seating change but encountered consistent refusals. I then asked the waitress to consult with the manager, hoping for a different outcome, but was met with another denial, which was disappointing.

To document our experience, I took photos of the empty restaurant. Upon noticing my actions, the manager finally inquired about the situation. I conveyed our concern regarding the considerable discomfort of seating five individuals at a small table with ample space.

After approximately 20 minutes of discomfort, the manager begrudgingly agreed to move a table to provide us with more space. Throughout this interaction, I detected a level of dismissiveness that was frustrating. While the lack of consideration during our dining experience was regrettable, we ultimately valued the quality of the food and the importance of time spent with family above the challenges we faced. My family’s happiness remains my top priority, and I have documentation highlighting our cramped seating arrangement and the availability of other tables, emphasizing the unnecessary discomfort we encountered.

It is also worth noting that it is surprising and somewhat concerning that the owners or management have not responded to any reviews regarding...

We were here for trivia. Obviously we spent time hanging out and playing the game. However according to the manager on duty, because we ordered drinks and ordered food during trivia, we were expected to wait. Apparently trivia changes your experience of service. If we wanted to wait for food we would wait to order food. If we wanted to wait for drinks, we would wait for drinks. However, our server was training and we gave our him the benefit of the doubt for our wait until we asked for our checks at 7:15 when the next football game started and waited 30 minutes. I personally spoke with the manager and expressed our concerns because he was training and what happened next was what gave this place a one star review. Our dessert came out cold. That’s fine. Things happen. The manager on duty and came over to explain that the reason why things took so long is because we had played trivia. That’s it. We played a game offered by the restaurant and as a result didn’t get prompt service. 30+ minutes for a check because we played trivia? Okay. Sure. Didn’t take gratuity off for the long service. The kicker? The manager coming to return 31 cents over an 18% gratuity to a member in our party who paid the gratuity in cash and rounded up. To chase behind a group of people who had a negative experience and stayed until 8:40 after asking for their check at 7:15 and had their change handed to them after they paid the gratuity was an intentional insult to a group of people who came there to enjoy good food and good service. The server training would have been fine after he dropped off the check. It was the manager with the brown hair, white cream sweater, and glasses that made this review what it is. Watching our entire section getting angry and upset about wait times apparently didn’t matter. I know the service industry has changed and we have to do better protecting our servers, but what we don’t have to do is punish patrons for being concerned about the quality of service they have. Shame on you, and shame on your management for being petty and carry when it comes to feedback. We weren’t angry. We weren’t mad, but we left livid and...